


Living a Nightmare

by randomerey



Series: Eternal Protectors [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bleeding Effect, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 18:50:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1828507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomerey/pseuds/randomerey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebecca and Shaun take Desmond to Lucy's grave, where he discovers a disturbing secret, and encounters some familiar "faces".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Living a Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Born of me reading way too far into things.

"Desmond?" Rebecca asked. The other Assassin had his hooded head buried in his arms.

"Well, is he coming?" Shaun called.

"Desmond...we're going to...to visit Lucy's grave. Are you coming?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah." Desmond replied. It nearly broke Rebecca's heart to hear her friend sound so shattered and unsteady.

He followed her to the truck and jumped in the back, settling against the wall near the cab. Shaun drove, and Rebecca took shotgun, periodically looking back to check on Desmond.

He was trapped in the memory. It replayed itself again and again like a broken record. Touching the Apple. Being controlled by Juno.

Being forced to stab Lucy. It hurt like being physically stabbed to have to see that, over and over again. 

Desmond wondered why Juno had said Lucy was an obstacle. Why he'd been forced to stab her. 

Lucy had had a blue glow when Altaïr's Eagle Vision had first made itself clear through the Bleeding Effect. Blue meant ally. Rebecca and Shaun had the same blue glow. Vidic had had the red glow of an enemy. 

Desmond lost himself in contemplating this, burying himself so far in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the truck stopped.

Rebecca hauled open the back. "We're here."

Desmond shook himself back to reality and jumped the short distance to the ground.

"Over here." Shaun led them to a grave set a distance away from the others. Desmond didn't even reach it before he turned away, telling Rebecca she could go first.

He wandered among the graves, looking at headstones and reading the inscriptions.

He stopped at a group of nine graves, set apart from the others, much like Lucy's.

He was about to read one when he saw a ghostly apparition much like those he'd seen leading him to the Sanctuary. 

"Ezio?" Desmond whispered disbelievingly. The vision knelt in front of the graves.

" _Requiescat in Pace._ " Ezio's voice carried over the centuries separating him from Desmond.

As the vision disappeared, Desmond moved closer to the graves. He read one. 

_Giovanni Auditore da Firenze. 1436-1476._

The headstone said nothing more, despite being relatively ornate.

Desmond looked closer. The symbol of the Brotherhood was hidden among the carvings. So Ezio's father really had been an Assassin.

He looked at the others.  _Federico Auditore da Firenze. Petruccio Auditore da Firenze. Maria Auditore da Firenze. Claudia Auditore da Firenze._

Ezio's entire family. Desmond looked at the next one, knowing what name would be on it, but it still came as a shock.

_Ezio Auditore da Firenze. 24 June 1459-30 November 1524. Loved father, husband, and friend. Requiescat in pace._

Desmond looked at Ezio's grave for a long time. The other three graves were those of his wife Sofia and children Flavia and Marcello. Ezio's headstone had the Assassin's symbol hidden on it as well, but not as hidden as on his father's. Rather, it was carved into the stone lightly, but not hidden among the other stonework.

"Desmond!" Shaun called. "Are you going to come see Lucy or not?"

"Coming!" Desmond called back. When he rejoined the other two, he directed them over to Ezio's grave, telling them they might want to take a look.

They left him alone at Lucy's grave.

He read the headstone. 

_Lucy Stillman. 17 May 1988-10 October 2012._

But under that was another line of writing. Another name.

  _Blake Miles. July 2012-10 October 2012._

And under that, it had the classic  _Rest in Peace._

"What the hell?" Desmond said aloud. "Blake Miles?"

"Lucy was pregnant." Rebecca said quietly. "It was yours."

Desmond looked at her, a strange mixture of anger, fear, and betrayal dancing in his dark eyes. "So I not only killed Lucy, I killed my own son? I can't fucking believe this! Fate loves to fuck me over, doesn't it? It loves to say "Fuck you, Desmond!" and give me the goddamn middle finger! This is all so  _fucked!_ " 

Desmond was shaking in anger now. "I don't care if she's already dead. Promise me you'll get rid of Juno, Rebecca."

"I promise." Rebecca was frightened by the look on Desmond's face, the look in his eyes. 

"Thank you." Desmond seemed to deflate somehow. "Don't leave without me, okay? I'll be back over at the truck soon."

Rebecca nodded. "We wouldn't leave without you." 

"Thanks." 

Rebecca turned and walked away. Desmond slumped at the foot of Lucy's grave.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I couldn't stop her. Couldn't protect you. I made a promise and I broke it. Now you're gone..." Desmond choked on the words. "You're gone and I killed you, even though I wasn't controlling my body. And now I discover that not only did I kill you, I killed our son..." 

Tears streamed silently down Desmond's cheeks. He didn't try to stop them.

He raised his head and noticed a rose bush not far from Lucy's grave. He walked over to it and picked a dozen or so roses, not caring about how they scratched his hands and arms or how much blood covered the bush's leaves.

He laid the roses on Lucy's grave. A moment later, he took a few and laid them on Ezio's grave before returning to Lucy's.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the lock screen's background. It was a photo of him and Lucy at the Auditore villa in Monteriggioni, laughing at the camera while standing in front of Altaïr's statue. He unlocked his phone and took a picture of the headstone. 

_All I have of my son._

Desmond didn't quite know what thoughts were going through his head. He sat silently at the foot of Lucy's grave. 

"Desmond! We need to go!" Shaun shouted.


End file.
